Recalls Archive

Evenflo is recalling some Embrace 35 rear-facing only infant seat due to the buckle being difficult to release.

Recalled Buckle

These are the same AmSafe QT buckles that have been part of recalls affecting other Evenflo, Graco, and Baby Trend carseats earlier this year. Models were manufactured between December 1, 2001 and May 31, 2013 only. Model numbers include:

Determine if your buckle is affected by looking for your information sticker, usually found on the bottom of the seat. If it is, register for a free buckle at Evenflo’s website or call Evenflo at 1-800-490-7591. Replacement buckles may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to arrive. Evenflo has more information on the recall at www.embracebuckle.evenflo.com.

In the meantime, if your child has been eating in the carseat, clean the buckle by dunking it into a cup of water and allowing it to dry upside down. If you haven’t had problems with your buckle, no worries, but do replace it since it does have the potential to stay locked. If your buckle is still giving you problems even after cleaning, switch your child to a rear-facing convertible carseat until you receive a replacement buckle.

Today NHTSA issued a recall of the Recaro Prosport, following a non-compliance notice issued in April. We have more details about the performance related non-compliance issue in our earlier blog. The details of the recall notice from NHTSA can be found here. Affected are all 39,181 Recaro ProSport model #385 child restraints, manufactured from June 16, 2010, through January 31, 2013. Recaro will notify registered owners and will provide, at no cost, a label to affix over the existing information label and a complete set of new instructions informing owners to discontinue use of the LATCH system when the weight of the child reaches 40 pounds. The campaign is expected to begin during August 2014. Owners may contact Recaro at 1-888-973-2276.

ProSport II and Performance Sport models are NOT affected, as we are told these newer models were introduced after a design change effective from February 1, 2013.

If you are a current ProSPORT owner, we suggest taking the following steps to ensure that your child is well protected in a crash until you receive an official recall notification/remedy from Recaro:

DO NOT use the lower LATCH anchors for installation above 40 pounds

DO read the instruction manual and labels that came with your ProSport (or any updated replacements sent by Recaro) and make sure you are installing it correctly and in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions

DO tether the seat at all times, Recaro now recommends that you ALWAYS use the top tether when using the ProSPORT with a 5-point harness*

DO install the seat with a lap/shoulder seatbelt if your child weighs more than 40 lbs.

* Previously Recaro USA limited top tether use to 52 pounds. I have confirmed that, “There is an official change that allows tether use up to the maximum weight limits of the RECARO combination seat models unless there is a top tether load limit stated in the vehicle manual from the vehicle manufacturer. RECARO also recommends always using the top tether with a forward-facing seat using an internal harness, and this would be retroactive.” Please contact Recaro USA for additional guidance on this issue.

Recaro USA makes the following statement:

Dear Valued RECARO ProSPORT Owner,

This notice is in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. RECARO Child Safety, LLC has determined that the RECARO ProSPORT child restraints manufactured from June 16th, 2010 to January 31st, 2013 fail to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 571.213 Child Restraint Systems. Our records indicate that you have either submitted registration for, or contacted our customer service team, regarding a ProSPORT manufactured in this period.

The ProSPORT failed to meet required head excursion limits set forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) when tested with a 52 pound, 6-year old dummy and installed with a LATCH belt only, no top tether. Not using the top tether could result in an increased risk of head impact in the event of a crash and also contradicts the ProSPORT instruction manual that came with your child restraint.

In this repair kit, you will find a label, instructions on how to affix the label, and a new instruction manual to repair your child restraint. The label and instruction manual advise you not only to ALWAYS use the top tether when using the ProSPORT with a 5-point harness, but also to discontinue using the lower anchors/LATCH strap when your child reaches 40 pounds. The combined weight of your child and the ProSPORT should not exceed 65 pounds when using lower anchors, as newly required by NHTSA in the FMVSS 213 standard for seats manufactured after February 27th, 2014. Discontinuing the use of LATCH when your child reaches 40 pounds updates your older ProSPORT to the new 2014 FMVSS 213 standard, and eliminates the risk posed by installation with LATCH belt only, no tether

If you have any questions regarding the recall or this repair kit, please email info-usa@recaro-cs.com or call our customer service team at 1-888-9RECARO.

If you would like to submit a complaint to the Administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you can reach them by mail at 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., Washington, DC 20590, by phone at1-888-327-4236, or via the web at http://www.safercar.gov.

Graco has and will continue to offer replacement harness buckles to concerned consumers at no cost. While many harness buckles look alike, consumers can verify which buckle they have by entering the model name and date of manufacture on GracoBuckleRecall.com. This information can be found on the white label located on the bottom of the infant car seat carrier (see below).

Additionally, Graco will continue to offer a free replacement buckle to any consumer who has an infant car seat not included in this recall, but would like to update their buckle to Graco’s current buckle design.

For additional questions, consumers may contact the Graco customer service team at 877-766-7470 (Monday – Friday, 9 am to 5 pm) or consumerservices@gracobaby.com

Those seeking replacement buckles will receive replacement kits in Summer 2014. While waiting for replacement buckles, Graco car seats equipped with affected buckles are safe to use. If your buckle becomes sticky, Graco recommends cleaning it by following the instructions available on GracoBuckleRecall.com as this will make it much easier to use.

Background on the New and Improved Buckle:

As early as January 2013, Graco began equipping our infant car seats with a new and improved buckle. While some of the buckles look the same, the updated buckle has been re-engineered and has an improved design, which makes it easier to use. This recall impacts only the older model of this buckle, used in car seats manufactured prior to May, 2013.

Graco’s Commitment to Safety

Graco has met or exceeded every safety standard set forth by the federal government through its 60-year commitment to rigorous engineering and demanding crash testing protocols. Each Graco car seat must withstand a critical crash test — hundreds of times — simulating a vehicle hitting a brick wall at 35 mph, which is double the force required by the government. Graco has conducted side impact testing on our car seats for nearly a decade before NHTSA proposed such a standard. Graco is also the only manufacturer to crash test our car seats under extreme temperatures – from 0 to 140 degrees F — to ensure the materials maintain their integrity in even the most demanding conditions. Importantly, Graco car seats undergo an additional battery of tests by independent safety experts at the same lab contracted by NHTSA to set the safety standards for the entire industry.

In designing each element of the car seat, the primary focus of our engineers is infant and toddler safety. The harness buckle — a critical part of the car seat — is opened and closed more than 15,000 times, the equivalent of 50 years of use, to ensure it meets our industry-leading safety qualifications. We also pull the harness buckles to withstand a force of over one ton, which is three times more than what is applied during a typical high-speed crash test. While there continues to be no reported injuries or fatalities related to our harness buckles, we have continued to upgrade buckle design as part of our ongoing product evaluation and improvement process.

To see if your model is affected, look under or behind your car seat, locate the white label and note model NAME and Date of Manufacture:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), they have denied a petition from RECARO Child Safety, LLC and that denial will likely result in a “remedy” or recall on all Recaro ProSPORT models in the near future. In the notice, only the original Recaro ProSPORT model was cited by NHTSA for having a performance-related compliance issue. The newer Recaro ProSport II and Recaro Performance Sport models were not included. Recaro Child Safety informs us that they are awaiting approval from NHTSA to proceed with a response to consumers. In the meantime, we want to assure parents that there are easy ways to avoid any possible risk indicated by NHTSA.

Potentially affected are 39,181 ProSPORT models manufactured between June 16, 2010 (inception) and Jan 31, 2013 (when production ended). Again, ProSport II and Performance Sport models are NOT affected, as we are told these newer models were introduced after a design change effective from February 1, 2013. The updated Performance Sport model continues to be one of our Recommended Carseats.

According to NHTSA, the ProSPORT model is not passing FMVSS 213 standards for head excursion limits when tested with the 6 year old dummy (which weighs 52 lbs.) if the seat is installed with just the lower LATCH anchors and is NOT tethered. This testing scenario actually conflicts with Recaro’s installation instructions which mandate that you discontinue using LATCH and switch to a lap/shoulder belt installation once the child weighs 52 lbs. Regardless, the standard is the standard and all carseats are required to pass the testing as it is specified in the standard. Just because a CR manufacturer states a specific LATCH limit or mandates a particular type of installation or belt routing does not exempt them from the requirements of FMVSS 213. In this case, Safety Standard 213 requires all forward-facing harnessed seats that are rated beyond 40 lbs. must pass minimum crash testing standards with both the 3-year-old dummy and the 6-year-old dummy, both with and without the use of the tether. With a tether, the dummy’s head excursion must not exceed 720 mm during the crash test. Without the tether, the dummy’s head excursion must not exceed 813 mm. According to NHTSA, the ProSPORT had a head excursion measurement of 907 mm in their compliance test.

What does this mean for parents or caregivers who own a ProSPORT model?

If you are using this carseat in high-back booster mode (without the 5-point harness), then this type of use is not included in this notification. Continue using your ProSport as a booster according to the instruction manual, until we know more.

Similarly, if you use a lap/shoulder belt for installation with the 5-point harness, with or without the top tether, then this type of use is also not included in this notification and we believe this is an acceptable method of installation until we know more. Recaro instructions indicate that beyond 52 lbs. you must detach the tether and use the lap/shoulder belt alone for installation.

If you are using your Recaro ProSport in 5-point harness mode, using the top tether along with a lap-only seatbelt or lower LATCH anchors, according to the instruction manual, then your child will be well-protected and you should continue to use your seat with the top tether until we have more information.

If you are using your Recaro ProSport in 5-point harness mode for a child under 52 lbs. and have installed it with the lower anchors but are NOT using the top tether, then you should simply attach the top tether to an approved tether anchor if at all possible. Use of the top tether resolves the non-compliance issue for installations with lower anchors up to 52 lbs. All seating positions with lower anchors have a top tether as well, though you may need to check your vehicle owner’s manual if the location of the top tether is not obvious.

For the uncommon situation of a ProSport installed with just a lap belt or lower LATCH anchors without a top tether, and a tether is not available, you have the option to switch to a seating position that has a lap/shoulder belt or use the seat in booster mode (which also requires a lap/shoulder belt) until a remedy is provided. We suggest children remain in a 5-point harness until they are at least 4 years and 40 lbs in general.

Again, this performance issue identified by NHTSA applies to installation with lower LATCH anchors ONLY, when not using the top tether. It is fine to continue using your ProSport according to our suggestions above, until we learn more from NHTSA and Recaro.

It is important to point out that NHTSA doesn’t test harnessed seats with a lap/shoulder belt.